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Conquering the Washington Monument

This is a note to let you know what’s new on standryer.com. 

First, I’ve added another section to the story “Compatibility” under WRITING A STORY. This is a short story I’m writing with commentary on the writing process along the way. Feel free to comment (bottom of this post) and I’ll post appropriate comments with the story.

Second, I’m starting to put some of the stories I published forty years ago up on the blog. The first of these is there, “The Conquest of the Washington Monument” written by an avid monument climber. You’ll find it under STORY ARCHIVES. Here is its first paragraph.

Among technical monument climbers the ascent of the Washington Monument has always been recognized as the penultimate challenge in sheer purity of execution. The monument offers a straight 555 foot Class 7 climb on a hard marble face with artificial aids for direct assistance required all the way. As it has never been scaled, I have long cherished the thought of attacking the monument. I had studied the records of the ill-fated Harkins expedition (See Washington police blotter May 7th 1971) who were forced to turn back at the 42 foot mark on The North Face. Their failure, I felt, was due to their negligence in not disabling the flood lights at the base of the monument to prevent police detection. We would not make that mistake, but other difficulties that I could not anticipate would confront us.

Read the rest under STORY ARCHIVES on www.standryer.com

And finally, I’ve had another couple of stories accepted for publication. “Playing Out the Deck” has to do with pushup poker, the Appalachian Trail, the war in Afghanistan and how friends help each other when things get tough. The second “Trouble-Free Driving” describes a hit man’s encounter with an over-friendly state trooper. Both of these will be published in September and I’ll let you know when and where when they are available to read.

Getting Stories Published

I’ve added two new items to my blog that may be of interest to you.

First, a number of the writers in my writing groups were interested in knowing how to get the short stories they had written published. I wrote a description of what I knew of the world that publishes short stories and the things that a writer should think about when offering stories for publication. When I read this description to one writing group some members felt they would like to see it available for reference. So it is there and you can see it by clicking on GETTING STORIES PUBLISHED. I’ve also added a table of contents to make it a bit easier to find material of interest. Feel free to copy it or suggest it to friends. Also, any feedback would be much appreciated.

Second, I resurrected a story that I wrote that was published 35 years ago in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. Titled “A Day in the Life of a Classics Professor”, it describes a world in which androids have replaced athletes in all major sports. The major sport is now competitive classic Roman oratory. You’ll find the story under STORY ARCHIVES.

Here’s an exerpt:

Big Harley Wilson drove Parker’s limousine with a terrifying abandon, cutting in and out through the traffic of autocars at a speed that would have meant disaster for anyone with a shade less skill. Wilson had been a running back with the now defunct Green Bay Packers and he was very used to hurling himself through holes that opened up for only a fraction of a second.

As Wilson drove, he cursed. “No mech scab gonna cut me off.” “Eat monoxide, droid bastards.” “Furbin micro-brains.” And, Parker thought, he had every reason to curse the mechanisms that piloted the other vehicles. They, or their brother androids, had destroyed Wilson’s most promising career

Enjoy, Stan Dryer

The Edge of Solitude

Another of my short storie, The Edge of Solitude has just been electronically published on the Write Launch site. http://www.thewritelaunch.com To read it, go to their site, click on “SHORT STORY” at the top, and scroll down to the story.

I wrote most of this story over 40 years ago. It is based on my experience when, in the summer after my freshman year at Harvard, I worked at a boy’s camp on Lake Timagami in Canada. The camp doctor was a young intern who later went on to work most of his life as a medical missionary in North Africa.

It is nice to see published your recollections of a peaceful moment in your early life. I hope I have at least partially portrayed the essence of a few short summer weeks in an almost untouched wilderness.

Your comments and feedback (bottom of this post) are always welcomed.

Stan Dryer